Howard McNear
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = San Fernando, California, U.S. | resting_place = Los Angeles National Cemetery | nationality = American | alma_mater = Oatman School of Theater | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1930s–1969 | spouse = Helen McNear (1902–1969) | children = 1 }} Howard Terbell McNear (January 27, 1905 – January 3, 1969)Record of Howard McNear, Social Security Death Index.Record of Howard T. McNear. Ancestry.com. California Death Index, 1940-1997 on-line. Provo, UT, US: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. was an American stage, screen, and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as Floyd Lawson, the barber in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968). Career McNear was born in Los Angeles to Luzetta M. Spencer and Franklin E. McNear.Ancestry.com community; Howard T. McNear He studied at the Oatman School of Theater and later joined a stock company in San Diego. McNear also worked in radio from the late 1930s, distinguishing himself in the 1937–1940 radio serial Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police as ace operator Clint Barlow.[http://www.audio-classics.com/lspeedgibson.html Radio Broadcast Log Of: Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police] McNear could be effective in such authoritative roles, but he gravitated more toward character roles, often comic. He enlisted as a private in the United States Army Air Corps on November 17, 1942, during World War II.National Archives and Records Administration. ''U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 on-line. Provo, UT, US: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. He created the role of Doc Charles Adams in CBS Radio's Gunsmoke (1952–1961).[http://comp.uark.edu/~tsnyder/gunsmoke/gun-radio.html Gunsmoke Radio series information] McNear was under contract to CBS for many years and was featured in many of the network's radio and TV programs. From 1955 to 1960 he appeared frequently, in various roles, in the popular radio detective series Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.Golden Age of Radio McNear made his film debut in an uncredited role in the 1951 sci-fi film The Day The Earth Stood Still as a boarding house resident along with the alien visitor Klaatu, and the 1953 film Escape from Fort Bravo. In a 1958 episode of Leave it to Beaver, McNear made his first TV appearance as a barber named "Andy", who gave Wally his first shave. Over the course of his career, he would appear in over one hundred film and television guest spots. In 1959, McNear portrayed Dr. Dompierre in the film Anatomy of a Murder who testified about collecting evidence of a rape. In 1961, McNear was cast as the vague, chatty barber Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show. During the show's run, he suffered a stroke that rendered the left side of his body nearly paralyzed. He left the series for nearly a year and a half to recover. Andy Griffith asked McNear to return to the series, to which McNear agreed despite being unable to walk or stand, and the production crew accommodated him accordingly, as Floyd was usually seen onscreen either seated, or standing with support. Many scenes were shot with him sitting on a bench outside the barber shop, as opposed to actively trimming hair as before. In most of his post-stroke scenes, McNear's left hand would be holding a newspaper or resting in his lap, while he moved his right arm and hand as he spoke his lines. In a 1967 episode titled "Goobers Contest," McNear's character is heard, but not seen, walking into the courthouse. The next scene shows Floyd already seated in a chair. According to Jack Dodson, who played Howard Sprague on The Andy Griffith Show, McNear began having difficulty remembering his lines and became anxious and frustrated.Kelly 1985 p.65 He left the series in 1967. Death On January 3, 1969, McNear died of complications from pneumonia following a stroke at San Fernando Valley Veterans Hospital in Sylmar, California."Howard McNear, Actor, 63; On Andy Griffith Show", The New York Times, January 7, 1969, p. 38. He was interred in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Actor and old friend Parley Baer delivered his eulogy. Filmography Footnotes External links * * Category:1905 births Category:1969 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Male actors from Los Angeles Category:American male film actors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American male radio actors Category:American male stage actors Category:American male television actors Category:American male voice actors Category:Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Infectious disease deaths in California Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers Category:Male Western (genre) film actors